Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, who may have been the worst mayor in Atlanta history, is now governor-elect of Georgia. Not only that, but every down-ballot post in the state from lieutenant governor to attorney general to labor commissioner to school superintendent to public service commissioner in last week's election went to Democrats and the margins of victory were not even close. Democrats also won control of the Georgia House of Representatives for the first time in 22 years, defeating at least 12 incumbent Republicans across the state. It was political roadkill. For that, you can thank the Georgia Republicans. They never figured out who the enemy is.
While Democrats were planning their blue tsunami, Republicans were up to their usual infighting. As I have stated numerous times, Republicans would rather be ideologically pure than elected. Democrats would rather be elected. The Georgia Republican Assembly, not to be confused with Georgia Republican Party, was trying to tell us who could run for office as a Republican and who could not. In other words, they would make the decision for the voters. (That's us.) Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger being one they considered ideologically impure, he ran for governor in the Republican primary anyway and lost. The voters (that's us) made that decision.
Overhanging all of this, of course, was the Republicans' continuing obsession with Donald Trump's defeat in 2020 and his claim the election was rigged. Personally, I found Trump's actions unpatriotic. Unlike Samuel Tilden and Richard Nixon and Al Gore, all of whom had legitimate — and better — reasons for questioning the outcome of their elections, Trump put his ego ahead of that of his country.
Nixon told journalist Earl Mazo, who had written articles about voter fraud after the 1960 election, that "our country cannot afford the agony of a constitutional crisis." Mazo stopped at Nixon's request.
Gore said. "(T)onight, for the sake of our unity as a people and the strength of our democracy, I offer my concession."
Trump? He spent an hour haranguing Secretary of State Raffensperger to find him 11,780 votes, turned loose a gang of thugs who ransacked the nation's Capital in hopes of preventing a joint session of Congress from counting the Electoral College votes to formalize the victory of president-elect Joe Biden. Fortunately, the attack was unsuccessful, and the election results were certified.
That didn't stop the RITNOs (Republicans in Trump's Name Only) from doing everything they could to overturn the results. Alternative electors. Unfounded accusations against Fulton County election workers that cost their accuser, Rudy Giuliani, a cool $148 million. A so-called documentary,"2,000 Mules," which alleged a widespread conspiracy that turned out to be false. Blathering "experts" questioning the integrity of our voting system but proving nothing. All of their smoking guns turned out to be cap pistols.
Nationally, Democrats took both Houses of Congress by huge margins and elected senators from states that had been Republican for decades. In the case of Kansas, a Democrat had not been elected to the Senate in almost a century. Georgia voters kept our congressional delegation split along party lines, nine Republicans and five Democrats.
Trump says had he been on the ballot, the elections would have turned out differently. Poppycock. His performance was on the ballot. His "four-to-five week" war. Higher fuel prices. His on-again-off-again-on-again tariff decisions. His preoccupation with his personal surroundings. Jeffery Epstein. Punishing those who dared disagree with him. Tiresome stuff.
In Georgia, the best Republicans could do was to run ads saying Jon Ossoff uses makeup (?) while ignoring Mike Collins' son-in-law's misogynistic and racist remarks. Greg Dolezal promised if elected lieutenant governor he would rid the state of jihadists. Yeah, right. Gazillionaire Rick Jackson poured $220 million into his gubernatorial campaign and lost by 10 points. Give me $220 million and I could get elected pope.
Do I take pleasure in the outcome? Except for shutting the yap traps of the RITNO election deniers permanently (I hope), none at all. In my opinion, this was more a vote against an arrogant and unpopular administration rather than an endorsement of Democratic policies. Frankly, the Democratic Socialists of America are gaining influence across the country and that scares the heebie-jeebies out of me.
As for the political wipeout in Georgia last week, I defer to my friend, the Sage of the Okefenokee, Pogo the Possum, who said, "We have met the enemy and it is us." Whether Republicans got that message remains to be seen. Stay tuned.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough at dick@dickyarbrough.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dickyarb.